Neuroscience and Education Colleagues Collaborate to Design and Assess Effective Brain Outreach for Preschoolers.

Neuroscience outreach efforts are currently aimed at older elementary or high school children and have not traditionally assessed effectiveness. Additionally, programs are often initiated by either neuroscientists or educators alone, with few combined instances of these groups working together. Considering the wide range of benefits that accompany interdisciplinary collaborations for outreach, this study sought to develop a neuroscience curriculum for preschool students via collaborations between neuroscience and education departments. Six neuroscience lessons addressing various functions of the brain were taught to preschool students in consecutive weeks. The first lesson was given to the entire class, after which a baseline pre-assessment was performed. Students were then divided into groups, after which only half of the class received further neuroscience instruction. A post-assessment measured for increases in neuroscience knowledge in the students. Results showed that students who received the neuroscience lessons had a greater understanding of content-specific material compared to the group who did not receive neuroscience lessons. The undergraduates involved also reported great benefits from participation in this program. This work addresses the gap in interdisciplinary science programming targeting young elementary aged students, and also provides a framework for improved design and assessment of such programs to continue to better scientific outreach efforts.

Interaction of rofecoxib and celecoxib with warfarin.

The interaction of celecoxib and rofecoxib with warfarin was studied. Patients stable on warfarin therapy and concurrently taking a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor comparator (traditional nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medications, salsalate, or acetaminophen) randomly received celecoxib 200 mg/day or rofecoxib 25 mg/day for three weeks. After a one-week washout period, the patients were crossed over to treatment with the opposite COX-2 inhibitor for three more weeks. The International Normalized Ratio (INR) was measured at baseline and at weeks 1, 2, and 3 of therapy with each COX-2 inhibitor by testing blood samples obtained by finger stick. Data for 16 patients were analyzed. The INR increased by 13%, 6%, and 5% on average in patients taking celecoxib at weeks 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and by 5%, 9%, and 5% in patients taking rofecoxib. Changes in the INR were statistically significant at week 1 for celecoxib and at week 2 for rofecoxib. Of the 12 subjects who had a clinically significant > or = 15% change in the INR while receiving either COX-2 inhibitor, 4 showed this change for both agents. Adverse drug reactions were similar for each COX-2 inhibitor, but the rate of edema requiring medical intervention was higher in the rofecoxib group. Significant increases in the INR were observed in patients who were stable on warfarin therapy after the addition of therapy with rofecoxib or celecoxib.

Composites of poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) and calcium carbonate: in vitro evaluation for use in orthopedic applications.

Biodegradable materials utilized in current orthopedic sports medicine fixation devices are required to maintain mechanical properties for at least 12 weeks to facilitate tissue healing and then ideally degrade with eventual replacement by surrounding tissue (bone). Current materials exhibit excessive longevity, which limit the potential for bone replacement, an ideal outcome in clinical procedures where revisions are a possibility. This study investigates material property modification of poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) by calcium carbonate. Modification of the degradation rate of PLGA by calcium carbonate (16, 36, 51% w/w) was demonstrated and the percentage of calcium carbonate within the polymer optimized at 36% (w/w). The optimized formulation was molded into a fixation screw and in vitro degradation demonstrated a gradual loss in molecular weight but with a pull-out strength retention beyond 12 weeks. Significant mass loss then occurred after 26 weeks. Physical testing, insertion torque, and failure torque indicated that this composite also had sufficient initial mechanical properties required for screw in type fixation devices. The combination of mechanical properties and degradation behavior suggests that this material may have potential to be utilized in orthopedic fixation devices that are placed in bone.